ARC Rights & Responsibilities

At The University of The District of Columbia, both students and the university have accessibility rights and responsibilities.

Students Have the Right to

• An equal opportunity to access courses, programs, services and activities at UDC.
• Request reasonable accommodations, academic adjustments or auxiliary aids and services.
• Appropriate confidentiality of information regarding their disability, except when disclosures are required or permitted by law.

Students Have the Responsibility to

• Maintain institutional standards for academic performance and conduct.
• Register with Accessibility Services, and request an accommodation.
• Provide appropriate documentation of a disability, including the functional limitation(s) of the disability and its impact on the access to and participation in courses, programs, services and activities at UDC.
• Follow procedures for requesting accommodations, academic adjustments or auxiliary aids and services.
• Request academic accommodations for each term in which the student is registered.

UDC Has the Right to

• Request and receive, through Accessibility Services, current documentation that identifies the existence of a disability and explains the functional limitations of the disability.
• Suggest appropriate and reasonable accommodations, academic adjustments or auxiliary aids and services based on documentation submitted to the office.
• Establish essential requirements and standards for courses, programs, services or activities at UDC.
• Select equally effective accommodations, adjustments or auxiliary aids and services.
• Deny an accommodation, adjustment or auxiliary aid that fundamentally alters a course, program or activity.

UDC Has the Responsibility to

• Review submitted documentation without bias and seek appropriate relevant professional expertise when necessary.
• Confer with the student and other relevant parties when determining accommodations, academic adjustments or auxiliary aids and services.
• Provide information in accessible formats, upon request.
• Respond to requests in a timely manner.
• Maintain appropriate confidentiality of documentation and information.

Self Advocacy and Accessibility

Advocacy skills are needed in many areas of our lives, including school, work and home. Becoming an effective self-advocate means having the ability to effectively communicate your needs to others.

Here are a few tips to assist you in reaching the goals you have set to accomplish at the University of the District of Columbia.

• Know your rights so that you may ask for what is available to you.
• Know your strengths and challenges and how they affect you.
• Plan to make your semester a success.
• Work to find solutions to overcome barriers to reaching your goals.
• Identify your needs and come up with a plan to support those needs.
• Identify your support system.
• Get to know the instructors and administrators in your program.
• Know how to communicate about your disability and how it impacts your academic performance.
• Know how to ask for help and seek out resources when difficulties arise.
• Recognize that long-term goals are reached by meeting many short-term goals.
• Recognize and celebrate your successes.